Sikkimese minor girl rescued by Delhi police

Sikkim Express ,GANGTOK 18 Sept: A 13-year-old girl of South Sikkim who was forcibly being exploited as household servant was rescued yesterday by Delhi police.

The girl was trying to board a train back to Sikkim in an attempt to escape from a Delhi household where she was being kept as a domestic help when she was spotted by a patrol team of Delhi police at the New Delhi railway station.

The girl is from Salghari Daragoan in South Sikkim.

According to SP (South) GK Verma, one Chandra Maya Gurung had taken the girl to Delhi with a promise to get her admitted in a school there.

However, the minor girl phoned her mother here informing that she was being kept as a servant in Delhi and was being repeatedly beaten up by her employer.

The next day, her parents lodged a complaint against Ms Gurung at Jorethang police station following which the Sikkim police also alerted their Delhi counterparts.

Meanwhile, a police team of Kamala Nagar police station found the girl near New Delhi railway station and informed the Sikkim House, New Delhi for further action on this matter.

It is informed that the girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee in New Delhi on September 15 wherein AK Chand Commanding Officer IRB on behalf of Sikkim took the initiative of taking the responsibility of reaching the girl back home.

The accused woman who hails from Bagrakote had taken the minor to Delhi on September 9. Police arrested her on September 16 at Jorethang and a case under Section 29 has been registered against her.

Although there is no such evidence of Chandramaya Gurung having links with any such agencies or records of taking any other girls from Sikkim, but there is possibility of her of having links with some agencies in Delhi cannot be ruled out, police sources said.

It may be recalled that a similar child trafficking episode had been witness in the first week of January earlier this year where four minor Sikkimese girls were rescued from a Delhi locality by a joint effort of West Sikkim and Delhi police.

Three of the rescued minors were from Chota Samdong, Soreng of West Sikkim.

One Sikkimese woman, Srijana Subba had also been arrested by Delhi police on charges of kidnapping the minors at that time.

SMIT TO REOPEN ON 5 OCT

PTI, Gangtok, 18 Sept : Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) will resume classes for the under-graduate students from October five even as the classes for post-graduate students have already started from September 15.

The institute was closed two weeks ago after the violent clashes between rival groups in which seven students, all outstation ones, were injured.

“We have decided to resume under-graduate classes from October five next after Dusshera vacations and the parents of the wards have been accordingly intimated in this regard,” Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) Vice-Chancellor Brigadier (retd) Surjit Singh Pabla told today.

The classes for post-graduate students have already commenced from September 15, Pabla said.

On the situation in the SMIT campus in the wake of the clashes, the SMU vice-chancellor said the normalcy has returned to the campus even as the inquiries being conducted by the state government and the university were going on.

Nathula is safe, People are safe but media stupidity can make situation “alarming”

D. Bishal

Nathula is safe, People are safe but media stupidity can make situation "alarming"

19 Sep, VoiceofSikkim: India that was in 1962 is not now in 2009, both the nations are equally responsible and growing economic giants in Asia. Even in the period of Global economy melt down these are the two countries that stood like a barrier confronting every maze of difficulties during recession period and even now and then. It is evident that both the countries have very close cultural relation ever since during medieval period.

Today it seems like someone do not want to see the friendly tie between India and China so that such biased issues are fired continuously making media as master key. Chinese incursion hardly be envisaged but those are not up to an unavoidable limit. The fractal reports usually occurs in border like LAC Line of Control, Sikkim (Nathula), Arunachal Pradesh which too cannot be ignored after all there are soldiers guarding on both the side with different thoughts and mind set in such a harsh climate. Government is continuously monitoring the mobility of any objects on its border with hi-tech surveillance gadgets and satellites, then how can a media be so arrogant compiling a data on blind shots?

I do not understand but one thing media should retain it’s credibility in terms of national security issues.

I request to all media once again and on top of it I pledge to national visual media on them this issue has turned somehow like “hysteria” .

उत्तर सिक्किमको केरसाङमा गोली हानहान भारतीय सेना घाइते

INDO-TIBETAN PATROL: Chinese soldier patrolling the Sikkim border.India and China reached an agreement in 1996 in which both sides pledged not to open fire for any reason. (Photo taken on July 10, 2008.) (DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty Images)

Himali Awaj, Gangtok,18 sept उत्तर सिक्किमको केरसाङ्ग नामक क्षेत्रमा दुई सप्ताहअघि चीनियॉं अनि भारतीय सेनाबीच भएको गोली हानहान काण्ड़ लुकाएर राखियो। तथापि गत सोमबार 14 सेप्टेम्बरको दिन यस संवेदनशील क्षेत्रमा नियुक्त गुप्तचर विभागका एकजना अधिकारीले यसबारे जानकारी दिएका रिपोर्ट पाइएको छ। तर उनी मिडियालाई जानकारी दिने अधिकृत व्यक्ति नभएकाले यसबारे नयॉं दिल्लीमा पत्रकारहरूले सोध्दा आइटीबीपीका अधिकारीले यस्तो कुनै घटना उत्तर सिक्किमको केरसाङ्गमा नघटेको बताए। उता चीनमा पनि यो घटनाको कुनै प्रासङ्गिकता नभएको थाहा लागेको छ।

सन्‌ 1996 सालमा भारत-चीनबीच भएको समझौतापछि भारत-चीन सीमानामा गोली हानहानी घटना पहिलोपल्ट घटेको हो। 1996 सालको समझौतामा दुई देशले सीमानामा कुनै पनि अवस्थामा गोली हानहान नगर्ने प्रतीज्ञा गरेको थियो।

गत 16 जूनपछि यो क्षेत्रमा भएको यो दोस्रो ठूलो घटना हो। 16 जून 2009 को दिन चीनियॉं सेनाको वाहन भारतीय सीमाना छिरेर आधा किलोमिटरसम्म आएको थियो। चीनियॉं सेनाको वाहन छिरेर आएको उत्तर सिक्किमस्थित भारतीय सीमानालाई फिङ्‌गर टिप्स्‌ भनिन्छ जसमाथि भारत अनि चीनले कौशलगत क्षेत्रको रुपमा आ-आफ्ना साम्प्रभौमिकताको दावी जनाइरहन्छन्‌। यो घटनाकाण्डमाथि चीनले भारत सरकारको कड़ा आपत्तिको सामना गर्नुपरेको सूत्र जनाउँछ।

यो क्षेत्रमा भारत अनि चीन दुवै देशको लगभग 1,056 माइलको सीमाना छ र यो तीनवटा भाग पूर्व, मध्य अनि पश्चिममा बॉंड़िएको छ। विवादित क्षेत्रको मोठ क्षेत्रफल 77,671 वर्गमाइल छ।

म्याकमोहन लाइऩको 55,923 वर्गमाइलयुक्त दक्षिणतर्फको पूर्वीय भागलाई चीन अनि भारतको अरुणाचल प्रदेशमा दक्षिण तिब्बत भनिन्छ। पूर्वीय भाग वास्तवमा भारतको नियन्त्रणमा छ भने मध्य भागले उत्तर सिक्किमको 1,243 वर्गमाइल क्षेत्र ओडट्‌छ, जसमाथि पनि भारतको नियन्त्रण छ

ITBP jawans injured in China border shootout

The Times of India, KOLKATA/GUWAHATI 15Sept: Simmering tensions along the mountainous frontier with China appear to have become serious with a revelation that two jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the sentinel force along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), were injured in bullets fired from the Chinese side. The firing in an area identified as Kerang in northern Sikkim took place a fortnight ago but has been kept under wraps. It was confirmed on Monday by a highly-placed intelligence source, who is not authorised to give information to the media. ITBP officials at its headquarters in New Delhi declined to confirm the incident. It was the first incidents where bullets have been fired since the landmark 1996 Sino-India agreement in which both sides pledged not to open fire, no matter what the provocation, as a part of confidence-building measures. Sources cite this as yet another instance of China's maintaining pressure on the 2.1 sq km area of `Finger Tip' in northern Sikkim. Last year, China had sent a vehicle-mounted patrol into this area, penetrating 1 km into Indian territory. The Kerang shootout prompted an unscheduled border personnel meeting on August 30. Also last week, the entire situation along the LAC was reviewed in a war game by the Eastern Command top brass in Kolkata's Fort William, Eastern Command HQs, in the presence of Army chief General Deepak Kapoor. Violations aren't new but have rarely involved casualties. What is alarming is the report of shooting along the LAC which has remained peaceful for decades since the Chinese invasion of 1962. At Asaphila in Upper Subansiri Division of Arunachal Pradesh, for instance, a contingent of 22 Chinese troops had intercepted an armed Indian patrol of two policemen, three porters and five Special Service Bureau personnel in June 2003, disarmed them and returned them to the Indian Army. In contrast, the Kerang incident could be a significant and dangerous deviation from the practice of talks before bullets. Despite ceremonial border personnel meetings (BPMs) at Nathu La in Sikkim and Bum La and Kibithu in Arunachal, Chinese troops continue to violate the LAC with brazen regularity. According to Army sources, People's Liberation Army patrols have been sighted crossing over the LAC six times since January this year -- four times in Upper Subansiri district in June and July, and twice in Lohit district in January. A Chinese post continues to occupy Sumdorong Chu valley since 1986. The situation has been worsened by the fact that the border is unguarded at some places in Arunachal Pradesh, mainly due to inhospitable terrain marked by high mountains and hostile weather throughout the year. At some locations there are no field units on either side. There is no deployment of Indian forces in at least one district, the backward Kurung Kumey (Tawang's neighbour). Such forays by Chinese troops have left the population near the LAC insecure. "Chinese patrols encroached into my district in June and July,'' said Upper Subansiri deputy commissioner H G Shalla. Western Arunachal Pradesh MP Takam Sanjay -- whose constituency has many areas where Chinese incursions have happened -- said the local people felt unsafe. "People of Arunachal do not want to face 1962 all over again,'' he said. He has taken up with the Centre the issue of securing the border. "It seems, somewhere we have lost involvement.'' Indian troops on the LAC have even sighted Chinese grazers and fishermen crossing over and pushed them back, say sources. Bhutan, too, faces the same problem. People from Tibet cross over in search of medicinal herbs. According to Army sources, there is no PLA build-up across the border, but what worries the Indian top brass is the definite edge the Chinese have in terms of infrastructure, particularly road communication. Because of this, they can move reinforcements to the LAC at a short notice, which is difficult for India. In Asaphila, the last road on the Indian side ends 50 km away from the LAC. Political leaders from Arunachal, like former MP Kiren Rijiju, have been vocal against the Indian policy of not developing infrastructure on the border for fear the Chinese would use them in case of a war. He has described this as a "defensive policy''. Sanjay, however, said that with prime minister Manmohan Singh granting Rs 24,000 crore to Arunachal for infrastructure development, the situation is set to change. One of the most important projects is the construction of the trans-Arunachal highway, connecting Tawang with Changlang district. It is learnt that the Cabinet committee on infrastructure has given approval for bidding for two sections of this highway. (With inputs from Amalendu Kundu in Gangtok)

Indian army replenishing posts along China border.

New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) The Indian Army is replenishing its forward posts along the frontier with China in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, officials said Wednesday, adding this was an annual exercise.

'This is an annual exercise, named Operation Alert, that we conduct every year to replenish our forward posts along our borders with China before the winter and nothing more should be read into it,' a senior Indian Army officer told IANS.

'It has nothing to do with the reports of border skirmishes, which, in any case, the government has officially denied,' the officer added.

'There has been no mobilization beyond the routine activities that we normally carry on at this time of the year,' the officer said.

In the past months, there have been several reports of Chinese troops intruding into Indian territory in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir creating anxiety about Beijing's aggressive designs.

The Indian government has, however, sought to play down the incursions, saying these are routine incidents that occur due to differences in perception about the Line of Actual Control.

China has officially denied its troops have intruded into Indian territory.

The Indian Army officer also pointed out that the force's activities had little to do with the just-concluded high-profile war game conducted by the Chinese Army in which close to 50,000 troops had been deployed in a cross-country tactical mobilisation that was seen as Beijing's efforts to improve its ability to move troops to Tibet whenever reinforcements were required.

The Sinister Truth Behind China's Border incursion misadventure

By Bhaskar Roy, ANI, New Delhi, Sep.18 : China has already built a deep seaport at Gwadar in Pakistan and the Karakoram Highway is connected to it. It also plans to construct twin oil and gas pipelines from Gwadar to Western China. This is a great challenge and once achieved, will be an engineering feat similar to the building of the railway across hostile terrain in the Tibetan Plateau.

There are two other objectives of strategic importance -- One is to push the Chinese border as far as possible into India and second is to bring the Chinese army as close to the Indian land route as possible, making Ladakh vulnerable by cutting its south eastern side from the rest of India. It is something like what Pakistan tried to do in Kargil in 1999 -- cutting off the land route to Kashmir. China has started incursions along the border with Sikkim. The “Finger Point” area where Chinese troops are probing is of military importance to both sides, though it is within the borders of Sikkim and Tibet. Although the Chinese have made a pretence of accepting Sikkim as part of Indian territory during Prime Minister Vajpayee’s visit to China in 2003, they never actually did. Prime Minister Vajpayee and the Indian Government fell for the trick that if India fully recognized Tibet as a part of China, the latter would accord recognition to India’s sovereignty over Sikkim. India did sign on the Tibet issue, but China did not honour its end of the bargain on Sikkim. China gave an impression that there was no border dispute insofar as Sikkim is concerned. The Sikkim issue is a pressure tactic and has the potential of becoming a burning issue further. To open new pockets of contention is a dangerous move by Beijing. In the eastern sector, China’s claim of 90,000 square kilometers of territory, that is the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh, can be used by it to keep boundary and territorial disputes with India alive, and take it into the international arena. This is what Beijing exactly did when trying to block an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan to India for development work in Arunachal Pradesh. New Delhi has made it abundantly clear that Arunachal Pradesh is Indian Territory and non-negotiable. Small adjustments, however, can be made along the border without disturbing the settled population. The 2005 India-China agreement on modalities to resolve the boundary issue has a clause that settled populations would not be disturbed. Although the agreement was jointly formulated, the Chinese are reneging on the clause.

Nathula Pass

INDO-TIBETAN PATROL: Chinese soldier patrolling the Sikkim border.India and China reached an agreement in 1996 in which both sides pledged not to open fire for any reason. (Photo taken on July 10, 2008.) (DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty Images)